I Don't Wanna Grow Up
by Creamoe
Summary: Up has served in the G.L.E.E for ten long, tedious years. His compensation? A week long leave with his Lieutenant, of course! He takes Taz to his hometown in Mobile, Alabama and attempts to show her that life isn't all about war and strife.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey! I'm back again with another fanfic! This one, I think, is an original idea. Possibly. Probably not. Oh well.**

**Summary:  
Up has served in the G.L.E.E for ten long, tedious years. His compensation? A week long leave with his Lieutenant, of course! He takes Taz to his hometown in Mobile, Alabama and attempts to show her that life isn't all about war and strife.**

**Disclaimer: I do not only this lovely pairing.**

Fireflies

It was February 6th, 2918. It was the 906th anniversary of the start of the Robot Wars, the 907th anniversary of the founding of the G.L.E.E, the 936th anniversary of J. Geils Band's "Centerfold" hitting #1 on pop charts, the 947th anniversary of the first golf ball being hit on the moon, aaaaannnd…..my 30th birthday. I also happen to be in my 10th year of service to the G.L.E.E. That means my lieutnenant and I get to take a week long leave and vacation wherever we want.

After we both receive the notice, I consult with Taz about her plans. She was kind of indifferent about the entire thing. Said she was probably going to go to the places she remember wanting to visit as a child.

"Jou know, like de Grand Canyon or Crazy Horse. Somet'ing dat hasn't been completely _distruido_."

I didn't know what to say, so I just shrugged.

"What about jou? What do jou have planned?"

"Me? Well, I was thinking about going to Alabama and trying to restore my old family farm."

"Oh, dat's cool," she replied, looking away.

We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. I noticed she was trying to find something to occupy her eyes with that wasn't me. "Taz," she looked back at me. "Do you wanna come with me?"

Her eyes widen in alarm as she desperately tried to find a valid excuse. "What? No, I can't do dat to jou. I would just be a burden. I-I don't want to intrude. I-it-"

I shushed her by placing two fingers over her lips. "I could use the company."

She smiled and, I should've seen this coming, licked my fingers. I pulled my hand back in mock disgust, "You little shit!"

She laughed and swatted my hand away as I wiped the spit off on her cheek. I then lifted her up and threw her over my shoulder. I carried her back to her room to pack with her pounding on my back and yelling Spanish insults in my ear the entire way.

~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~

After the exploration pod docked at the Starship base in Montgomery, we hopped in the yellow Jeep Wrangler the G.L.E.E. provided us and took the three hour trip down I-65 to Mobile.

I drive up the mile long, gravel driveway to the old, abandoned house. We studied my old home. The roof of the house was stained green with moss and caved in at the back. Ivy clung to the outside walls and the windows were dark and grey and held an empty, sad feeling within them. Around it, unkempt undergrowth made it look as if it was birthed by Gaea herself.

I got out of the car and entered the house. Inside, there were faded black streaks along the walls as mold from the damp nights had begun to seep in. Flaking speckles of paint were lining the floor with dust and the corpses of unfortunate creatures. The antique wooden furniture was rotting; stained with lichen while the curtains lay hanging, limp and moth-eaten. The place felt still, heavy with expectation and foreboding waiting for one more life form to creak across the worn, wooden floorboards. Home, sweet home, huh?

"Jou lived here?" she asked in awe.

I look at her. "Why always the tone of surprise?"

She smirks, but then furrows her brow, "So, what do we do first?"

"First? First we make camp." I lead her out the back door and down the trail I imprinted all those years ago.

Taz followed silently, sensing that I needed a minute for the nostalgia to vacate my heart. That's one of the things I love most about Taz. Ever since I met her seven years ago, she has always known when someone just need to be alone and when she needs to keep her mouth shut. Except when she's angry, of course.

The trail opened up to a small clearing, revealing my lake. After my mom died, this is where I'd escape to when my father came home pissed, drunk, and broke.

"It's beautiful," Taz whispered.

"Yeah," I replied, looking over the tall grass out to the rolling hills of my property. "It is."

We stand there for a few seconds before, "Come on, it's almost dark. We have to pitch the tent."

I kneel down next to my pack and pull out the tent and some other necessary supplies.

"Up, what are dose jars for?" Taz asked me. I hadn't even realized she was watching me.

"You'll see," was all I said and she huffed, knowing she wouldn't get me to tell her.

~~~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~~~

When the sun finally set, I grabbed a flashlight, the jars, and Taz's hand and led her through the grass.

"Where are we going?" she asked me.

"Just around the riverbend," I replied.

She smirked at the 923 year old movie. "Pero, en serio. What are we doing?"

"Well, us kids need nightlights, don't we?"

She looked at me skeptically, but allowed me to drag her along.

"Oh," she gasped, covering her mouth with her free hand. Thousands of little lights floated around, lighting up the bank of the lake. "Really? Fireflies?" she asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Yes. Come on, Taz. Keep an open mind. Look," I reached out and caught one. I showed it to her, the light coming from the spaces between my fingers. "Hold it."

She held out her hand as the little bug crawled out of mine and onto her arm. She watched it for a moment before saying, "It tickles."

I turned off my flashlight and put it in my pocket. I handed her a jar, "Let's catch 'em!"

She cupped the tiny bug in her hands and slipped it into the jar. We spent the next few hours running, horsing around, laughing, and just enjoying each other's company overall.

When the jars reached their full capacity, we hiked back to the tent. Taz took her knife and cut little slits in the lids to allow oxygen in.

"We'll let dem out in de _mañana_," she says.

"I agree and take one of the jars. She puts hers next to her pillow and I do the same. Taz burrowed into her sleeping bag, curling into a ball. I stare at her for a moment, seeing the light glistening in her soft, brown eyes as she watched every movement of the bugs.

"Gracias, Up. For tonight," she said softly. "I really needed it."

"Needed what?" I ask.

She turns to me, looking me straight in the eye. "To get away," she says. "Away from everything."

I nod. "You're welcome, Taz. And, to be honest, I needed it too."

She smiled softly and I crawled into my sleeping bag.

"Goodnight, Taz. We've got a long, hard day of work to look forward to tomorrow."

She grunted in response, which earned a chuckle from me, and I fell asleep watching the dancing lights from the bugs as they reflected off the roof of the tent.

**A/N: I hoped you liked this! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Oh, my goodness. I feel so terrible. It's been months since I published this. I have the basic excuses of writer's block, busy schedules, and an outside life, but I also lost all my notes for this story. I had all 7 chapters and the epilogue planned out and when I realized they were gone, I lost motivation. But I'm back now and gonna try my best to get this done. Again I'm really sorry!**_

_**P.S. I fixed the character mishap! Now we're all happy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't feel like doing it...**_

The next morning, I got up and started boiling some water over the portable gas stove. After a few minutes, I woke Taz up and made her some coffee from the travel packets we brought along. She took it and sipped it as if her life depended on it.  
"Gracias, Up. Jour de best."  
"I know," I said, shooting her a quick smile. She just continued to drink the bland concoction, her eyes never leaving my face.  
I immediately felt self-conscious, so I busied myself with breakfast. Turning the stove up, I set a frying pan on top of it. Taz was watching me through the flap of the tent, but as soon as I laid the first slice of bacon onto the pan, she stepped out and peered over my shoulder.  
"How many pieces do you want?" I ask.  
"Seis," she replied without hesitation.  
This doesn't surprise me. I've seen how much Taz could eat. I was thankful she was saving me some. The G.L.E.E had provided us with seven pounds of bacon, three dozen eggs, and two gallons of milk for breakfast. For lunch, they were a bit less generous. Only two pounds of 80%-20% ground beef, two boxes of baked tilapia filets, condiments, sandwich stuff, frozen veggies, and a couple twenty-four packs of bottled water. I did take _some_ initiative and brought a few kool-aid and lemonade packets.  
Anyways, we ate breakfast and Taz went back into the tent to change.  
"Día de los muertos!" Taz comes storming out of the tent. "Up! What de hell is dis?" She shoved a bundle of denim in my face, her hand on her hip.  
They're overalls, Taz," I said as I took them from her.  
"Si, vei que." she snapped. "What are dey doing in mi bolso?"  
I shook them out as I replied, "All you packed was your uniform. It's not professional to go to work in in paint splattered cargo pants full of holes, rips, and whatever else may happen while we're out here."  
"So, you just...?"  
I nodded.  
"Argh!"  
I threw the overalls back at her and she stomped back to the tent. I could still hear the string of Spanish curses coming from inside.  
I chuckled and finished cleaning up. I was dumping the leftover bacon grease into a jar when Taz walked out of the tent, a small scowl on her face. I smirked at her.  
The scowl then turned to a glare. "Whatchu smirking at?" she snapped.

"Oh, nothing. You ready to release those bugs?"

Her eyes widened. "I completely forgot about dem!"  
She rushed back into the tent and walked back out peering into the jars intently. Then she shook it lightly.  
"What is it?" I ask.  
"They...died." She lowered her hands. "How, Up? We only had them for a few hours!"  
I was taken aback. She was looking at me with such innocence. Innocence I hadn't seen in seven years. Innocence I hadn't seen since since April 14th, 2911.

_ I was walking past the sick bay after the failure of my most recent mission. My compensation? I got to rescue a rude little girl with a real need for an attitude adjustment. I was nursing a pretty nasty cut on my left eye due to said little girl when I heard screaming from down the hall. __"Déjame ir! Tengo que ir a casa. Tengo que ayudar a mi familia!"- __"Taz, please. We need you to stay-"_  
_ There was a rather concerning crash just as a tiny, Hispanic girl looking over her shoulder, runs out of the room and right into me. _  
_ "Outta my way, assho-" she stopped when she saw me glaring at her. _  
_ I spun her around and led her back to the room with my free hand on her shoulder. I dismissed the nurses in the room and closed the door. I gestured towards the bed and she reluctantly climbed onto it._  
_ "Taz, is it?" No answer. "Alrighty then. Taz, it is."_  
_ I hopped up on the foot of the bed and she scooted as far away as she could with her arms wrapped around her knees. _  
_ "So, why'd you try to run?"_  
_ "Jou wouldn't understand," she mumbled._  
_ "You're right. I probably don't. But I'm just looking for answers, not to sympathize with you. Now, tell me why you ran."_  
_ "I need to do what you jerkoffs can't and protect mi familia."_  
_ "Taz, you need to understand that you did all you could. Hell, I've never seen a fifteen year old boy fight like you did. Now, your family would want you to stay safe and let us finish up. We did everything we could for you guys, now, please, let us do our jobs and keep you safe."_  
_ "And just who are jou anyways?"_  
_ "I'm Commander Up."_  
_ "Okay, Up." I started when she didn't use my title. "And when, exactemente, can I leave this hellhole?"_

_I sighed and winced as I took the cloth away from my eye. I heard Taz suck in a breath and I turned to her. She quickly hid her face behind her knees and asked,_

_ "What happened?"_  
_ "What happened? You mean this?" I pointed to my face and she looked up. "You. You are what happened. It's the reward you gave me for saving your sorry little ass."_  
_ Her eyes widen as the memory came back to her. _  
_ "Lo siento mucho! I'm so, so sorry." She climbed over me to my left side and took the cloth from my hand. "I really didn't mean to," she apologized, then muttered, "A pesar de que problament e se lo merecía."_

_"What was that?" I asked. _

_"Nothing," she replied quickly and went to rinse out the bloody rag. _

_She came back over and started dabbing my eye gently. We stayed silent for a few minutes before I noticed Taz's hand start to shake. She took a shuddering breath._

"_Why didn't I die too?" she asked in a trembling voice, the tough guy façade gone. _

_I lower her hand from my face. _

"_Taz, I wanna tell you something my ma told me years ago." I took the cloth from her and patted the seat next to me. She climbed up and tucked her feet underneath herself. " When I was seven years old, my dog died. As every seven year old should be, I was distraught. After his funeral I asked my mother why he had to die, this is what she said to me. 'Talos Up. There is something all young men need to discover. Some call it the meanin' of life, but that's all too vague. No, what every lad needs to understand that God put us in this universe is to discover the meanin' of happiness. When a person dies, you know it was their time to go because they were the happiest they were ever gonna be.' Of course, I say, 'But God is dead.'. She just smiled at me and replies, 'But don't mean his plans aren't still bein' acted out, now do it?'_

"_You need to understand that it wasn't your time. You still have turmoils inside that need to be sorted." _

_She looked down at her hands, "Jou know? I don't believe dat. Dat God is dead, I mean."_

_I give her a questioning look and she begins to sing a deep, throaty, beautiful alto._

"_Love one another for love is of God_

_He who loves is born of God and knows God_

_He who does not love, does not know God_

_For God is love. God is love."_

_She takes a breath and starts singing an octave lower._

"_Love bears all things,_

_Believes all things,_

_Love hopes all things,_

_Endures all things"_

_The entire time I am watching in amazement. She looks at me with a pleading look in her eyes._

"_Jou see? If God is love and loves lasts forever, then God does too. Never mind. Jou probably think I'm stupid-"_

_I shake my head, "No no no no! I've just never thought of it like that. I think you've got a great theory and it could bring a lot of hope to our hopeless world." I take her hands in mine. "Please, never stop believing. For the world's sake."_

_She smiled at me and wraps her arms around my waist and buries her head into my chest. I place my arm around her shoulders and we just sit there for God knows how long._

I was shaken out of the memory of Taz snapping her fingers in my face.

"Hey! Where'd jou go? Dey're just damn bugs, no need to go all hazy!"

"Sorry, sorry," I replied. "Come on, let's dispose of them."

She followed me to the grassfield where we caught them and watching her discard the corpses so effortlessly drove me to ask, "Do you remember the conversation we had in your hospital room when we first met?"

"Por supuesto, lo hago."

"Do you, ya know, still believe?"

She sighed and set down the, now empty, jar. "Si. Dere have been times where I dink our whole cause is pointless, den something happens to save it. I don't know if it's luck or a series of cause and effect that happened to turn in our favor. I remember what jou said all dose year ago, and dink to myself, 'It's not my time. God isn't t'rough with me on dis world. Dere is somet'ing else I need to do'. It helps me get t'rough a lot."

"I feel the same way. I have quite a few doubts, but there is always that one part of my brain that doesn't want to let go of this hope."

She nodded in acknowledgement and I smiled.

"Come on," I say, ruffling her hair. "Let's put all this depressing stuff about hope and love behind us and get started on this house!"

Taz let out a laugh I hadn't heard in a while and looped her arm around my waist and we stumbled back to the Jeep.

_**A/N: So, I meant for chapter two to have them actually start on the house, but I guess that'll wait for chapter three. Practically none of this was planned, I started off of my notes then ran with it and this is where it ended up. I really hope you liked it and thought it lived up to your expectations. Please review. And I'll be accepting ideas if you want to see anything in particular happen in their week. We still have 5-6 days left, I think.**_

_**P.S. The song Taz sang is called The Greatest Commands. It's actually a four part harmony and I had her sing the alto and bass parts.**_


End file.
